FIM MotoGP World Championship Donington Park, England June 22, 2008 Race Results: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati), Bridgestone, 30 laps, 44:44.982 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Bridgestone, -5.789 seconds 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Michelin, -8.347 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Michelin, -12.678 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), Michelin, -14.801 6. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), Michelin, -15.690 7. Nicky Hayden (Honda), Michelin, -18.196 8. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -21.666 9. Shinya Nakano (Honda), Bridgestone, -29.354 10. Anthony West (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -41.030 11. Toni Elias (Ducati), Bridgestone, -44.426 12. Randy De Puniet (Honda), Michelin, -46.199 13. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati), Bridgestone, -48.731 14. Ben Spies (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -49.591 15. Alex De Angelis (Honda), Bridgestone, -82.186, crash 16. Marco Melandri (Ducati), Bridgestone, -90.021 17. James Toseland (Yamaha), Michelin, -1 lap, crash 18. John Hopkins (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (After 8 of 18 races): 1. Rossi, 162 points 2. Pedrosa, 151 3. Stoner, 117 4. Lorenzo, 104 5. Edwards, 82 6. Dovizioso, 68 7. Hayden, 57 8. Toseland, 53 9. Loris Capirossi, 51 10. Nakano, 49 11. Vermeulen, 48 12. Hopkins, 32 13. TIE, Melandri/Elias, 29 15. De Angelis, 25 16. De Puniet, 22 17. Guintoli, 18 18. West, 16 19. TIE, Spies/Tadayuki Okada, 2 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Casey Stoner proved uncatchable for his MotoGP rivals as he cruised to a second Donington Park victory in as many years. The 2007 World Champion was the fastest off the line from pole position, taking the kind of runaway win typical of his title winning year at the bwin.com British Grand Prix. With his second triumph of the season, Stoner moved his way up to third in the overall classification. The two riders ahead of him in the standings, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, were involved in an entertaining battle some seven seconds back, trading places repeatedly at the midway point of the race. Riding in his 200th Grand Prix, Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi eventually won out, continuing a seven race run of podium finishes in 2008. Repsol Honda´s Pedrosa also has seven rostrum appearances to his name this year, and came in third at the scene of his 2006 victory. His consistency keeps up the pressure on series leader Rossi, who he trails by just eleven points. Colin Edwards was the highest placing satellite rider, finishing fourth onboard the Tech 3 Yamaha M1. Whilst his was a positive result, teammate and home rider James Toseland had a miserable time of things in the race, crashing on the first corner and finishing last after picking the bike back up. Last year´s 250cc racewinner, Andrea Dovizioso had another creditable showing on his first MotoGP appearance at Donington Park. The JiR Team Scot rookie was fearless even when surrounded by experienced campaigners, concluding the race in fifth ahead of fellow debutant and long-time rival Jorge Lorenzo. Nicky Hayden, Chris Vermeulen, Shinya Nakano and Anthony West completed the top ten, whilst Rizla Suzuki´s stand-in rider Ben Spies earned his first MotoGP points on his maiden appearance. The American will now wait to find out if his services are required for the upcoming A-Style TT Assen, or if Loris Capirossi injured but watching on in Donington- will be fit for a return to action in the Netherlands. The only rider unable to finish the race was John Hopkins, the Kawasaki rider retiring with a mechanical problem. Casey Stoner Race Winner “It´s better for us here to win here because we know that now we can run better for the future again. The first races after Qatar were a disaster for us. We started fast right from the first session and have been competitive in both the wet and the dry. I have to thank the mechanics; they´ve been working hard to solve problems that we´ve been having, and I hope that this is something for future races, not just the two where we´ve tested.” 250cc Mika Kallio emerged victorious from a three-rider tussle for victory at Donington Park, maintaining the lead of the World Championship in the most unlikely of circumstances. Kallio had worked his way up from fourteenth on the grid to third with just over a quarter of the race gone, and put himself in a prime viewing position to observe the leading duo of Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli. His first opportunity to make a move came with just two laps remaining, and he grabbed it with glee when the two ran wide together and left the door open for the Red Bull KTM rider. There then followed a nervous final lap, in which Kallio slid all over but took advantage of his ice racing skills to maintain his balance and take the chequered flag. As in Jerez, a battle between the Italian and the Spaniard had ended with a Finnish victory. Simoncelli salvaged second place from the hard pass on Bautista, extending his run of podium finishes to four in a row, whilst his Mapfre Aspar rival had to make do with third. The Metis Gilera man keeps up the pressure on Kallio in the title hunt, holding second place in the standings. Starting from the front row, Team Toth´s Hector Barbera was unable to stick with the breakaway trio, coming home fourth, whilst Thomas Luthi and Hiroshi Aoyama also featured in the top six. The first ten across the line was rounded off by Alex Debon, Julian Simon, Yuki Takahashi and Aleix Espargaro. 125cc The MotoGP World Championship has a new British star, and a new youngest ever racewinner, in 15 year-old Scott Redding. The Blusens Aprilia rider took home victory at the 125cc bwin.com British Grand Prix to delight the crowd and put himself into the record books. Starting from the front row of the grid, Redding had been in contention for the win after closing down early leader Andrea Iannone. With six laps remaining, the two were out on their own, but the local hero did not even have to negotiate a pass on his Italian rival. Iannone took a heavy lowside under pressure from Redding, ending his chances of victory and clearing the way for the Briton to end his country´s 451 race run of 125cc races without a victory. Displaying a cool that belied his years, Redding took the chequered flag with a salute to his team, before collecting the Union Jack flag to rapturous ovation on his cool-down lap. It was also an amazing race for series leader Mike di Meglio, who worked his way up from 20th on the grid for second place and retention of his championship position. The Ajo Motorsport rider battled throughout the 25 laps with some fierce rivals, and eventually won out from podium debutant Marc Marquez the Repsol KTM rookie like Redding just 15 years of age. Sergio Gadea was unable to close down the front three, coming home fourth ahead of previous World Championship leader and Donington poleman Simone Corsi, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Joan Olive, Takaaki Nakagami, Sandro Cortese and Bradley Smith completed the top ten. Of those crashing out of the bwin.com British Grand Prix, Gabor Talmacsi´s fall was the most notable. The 2007 World Champion thus ended his run of podium finishes and saw a further roadblock in his path to retaining the title. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH SECOND PLACE IN 200TH GRAND PRIX Valentino Rossi finished a worthy runner-up at Donington Park today, unable to catch Casey Stoner on this occasion but surviving a mid-race battle with Dani Pedrosa to extend his lead at the top of the championship. Today was Rossi’s 200th Grand Prix and this his 142nd podium since he opened his account with a third place at the 1996 Austrian GP in the 125cc class. It was also a good day for Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who put his recent injuries and yesterday’s poor qualifying behind him to come through from 17th on the grid to take sixth. Rossi’s recent work in testing on improving his starts paid off today and the Italian held onto his second place at the off. He tried to stay with Stoner but the Australian was too quick in some parts of the track today and Rossi knew that second was going to be as good as it got. Midway through the 30-lap race Pedrosa loomed and twice passed Rossi into turn one, but both times the multiple-champion took him back and over the final stages he was able to create a safe cushion from the Spaniard, crossing the line just under six seconds behind Stoner and 2.558 ahead of Pedrosa, who is his closest championship rival. Rossi gained four points on Pedrosa today and is now 11 points clear, whilst Lorenzo is behind Stoner in fourth. The MotoGP paddock now packs up and heads straight to Assen for the Dutch TT, which takes place in just six days time. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: +5.789 “I am quite happy about this result, although of course I would have preferred to have been fighting with Stoner for the win! I got a good start today and I tried to stay with Casey, but in some corners he was faster than me and it was impossible to keep up with his pace as the race went on. I knew that second place was important because of the points so I had to win my fight with Pedrosa in the middle of the race! Luckily we took second and now I have extended my lead by four points, which is very important for our championship. Unfortunately this weekend we made some mistakes when it was dry on Friday, and then because of the wet yesterday we weren’t able to work on them until today, when it was too late to make things perfect. Anyway we did the best we could so thanks to all my guys. We are leading the championship but Stoner showed his potential today so I think that this hard battle between us all is going to continue race by race. I am glad we only have a few days to Assen and I am looking forward to doing better there.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Today it was difficult to do better than this but if you think about the championship it has been a very important result and we have increased our lead on Pedrosa by four points. We’re not quite at the half-way point of the championship yet one more week but we’re pretty happy with our season so far and the important thing is that we’re leading the championship. We have no time to rest before Assen but we will be going there with the aim of getting back to the top step of the podium.” Masahiko Nakajima Team Director “We were struggling all weekend in order to try to find the right set-up to fit these tricky conditions. At the end we found a good setting, which enabled Valentino to be fast, but unfortunately one of our rivals was still faster than us today! Anyway we were able to secure important championship points and we are satisfied about this. Now our aim is to get back to the top of the podium next week.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO STORMS TO SIXTH WITH SUPERB DONINGTON RIDE Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo wrote another impressive chapter in his rollercoaster rookie story today with an outstanding ride to sixth from 17th on the grid in the British Grand Prix. After suffering a string of crashes and injuries over the last seven weeks and missing the last round in Catalunya, his aim today was simply to come home in one piece but the determined 21-year-old did considerably better, passing a host of riders to make up 11 places from his grid position. His team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile extended his championship lead by finishing as runner-up to Casey Stoner. In dry but windy conditions, Lorenzo lived up to his nickname ‘Por Fuera’ at turn one by overtaking around the outside of several riders and coming out of the first corner melee in 13th position. He continued with more of the same throughout the lap and crossed the line for the first time in tenth. As his confidence grew he found the rhythm he had been lacking during the rest of the weekend and passed Anthony West to take ninth on lap 13. A consistent pace throughout the middle part of the race, matching that of the leading riders, brought him to Shinya Nakano on lap 20 and, once past him he succeeded in closing a three second gap to Chris Vermeulen and Nicky Hayden in just four laps. He dispensed with these two in turn and then set off after Andrea Dovozioso, however with only five laps remaining time ran out for the Mallorcan and he crossed the line just under a second adrift of the Italian, despite setting a personal best time on the final lap of the race. Lorenzo now sits 13 points adrift of Stoner in fourth place, whilst Rossi extends his lead over Dani Pedrosa to 11 points as they approach the half way point in the championship, which comes at Assen in just six days time. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 6th Time: +15.690 “I’m very happy with this result, because this was a very hard weekend for me and for my crew. I don’t want to think about the past, or think about what might have been if I’d started in the front rows, I only want to think about the present and my ride today. The number one aim was to finish the race without crashing or hurting myself, because at the end of the day your health is the most important thing! After the start however I started to feel more and more confident and found I was able to ride better and better, then I realised that I actually had the chance to do a very good race. I had fast pace throughout and my bike and my Michelin tyres worked very well, so thank you to all my team. Sometimes lately it has been hard to stay optimistic, motivated and happy, even though I have always tried to go out smiling and with a good attitude, but this race today was great and I am very happy tonight.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “We have achieved the goal for this race; it was very important that Jorge found a good feeling with the bike and started to enjoy riding his M1 again and today this happened. He was able to ride a beautiful race and come back from a difficult grid position to take a brilliant sixth. Today he impressed us once again and it was also a great feeling for everyone to see him making eleven overtakes! The team did a fantastic job because they were able to put him in a position to be this fast. We are very confident now that in Assen Jorge will be back to his best.” Masahiko Nakajima Team Director “We are all very happy with Jorge’s race today because he came through to a good finishing position from the back of the grid. Unfortunately starting from 17th meant it was very difficult to come all the way to the front but he did a fantastic job in the circumstances. We’re pleased because we have seen once again the impressive riding that he showed us before his accident. Now we will continue to try to improve his bike set-up even more, with the aim of seeing him back on the podium as soon as possible.” More, from a press release isued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA THIRD FOR REPSOL HONDA,HAYDEN RACES PNEUMATIC-VALVE ENGINE Repsol British Grand Prix, Donington Park Race day, Sunday June 22 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa finished a hard-fought third at Donington Park this afternoon after starting from ninth on the grid. Team-mate Nicky Hayden rode his first race with the pneumatic-valve RCV engine and finished seventh after running in the top four. Weather conditions have been changeable throughout the weekend here with heavy rain yesterday and strong winds today. The race was watched by a record 88,000 fans. Pedrosa enjoyed a storming start, ending the first lap in fifth place and setting the second fastest lap of the race as he worked his way forward at a track that doesn’t make for easy overtaking. The Spaniard enjoyed a great duel for second place with Valentino Rossi, twice overtaking the Italian in the mid-stages of the race. Hayden had an even busier afternoon, battling back and forth with Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda), Chris Vermeulen and others, despite being distracted by a dash light that came on unexpectedly at one-third distance. In the later stages Hayden’s pace improved once again and he finished the race with plenty of data that will allow the team to improve performance for next Saturday’s Dutch TT at Assen, the midpoint in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship. Dani Pedrosa, finished 3rd, 2nd in World Championship “This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time and only one day of dry practice. So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona I think that finishing on the podium is a good result for us. I pushed hard today and I really wanted to get second. Unfortunately, starting from the third row at a tight track with a short run to the first corner was never going to be easy. I got a good start, but I got a bit boxed in through the first corner and I lost some time while I was behind Dovizioso. Once I got up with Valentino we had a good battle, made a few passes but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second. My Michelin tyres worked well today but I struggled a bit through the direction changes. Anyway, we got some good points for the championship and we can look forward to getting a better result at Assen next weekend.” Nicky Hayden, finished 7th, 7th in World Championship “We learned a lot this weekend. We could’ve done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I’m actually pretty positive, we’ll try to put everything we’ve learned to good use at Assen. We didn’t really know what to expect here, everything went smooth until this morning when we had to switch bikes. The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I didn’t know what it was for, but if a sensor goes bad you realise just how much you use traction control, engine braking control and things like that. It was nothing serious but I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The guys are looking into it now. It would’ve been nice to finish higher up, because I’ve got a lot of English guys in the box. The bike was pretty consistent at the end and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot about fuel, tyre life and so on, we got a lot of information. We knew the first race might not be easy, so I hope we can build from here. Thanks to the team and to HRC for all their hard work.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “We knew it was going to be difficult for Dani, starting from the third row, but we think he did a good job to fight for second with Valentino. This year’s championship is so tough, the level of equipment is so high, so every race is a real challenge. Of course, we must keep working to improve the bike for the next races. Nicky rode his first race with the pneumatic-valve engine and gathered a lot of data which will help us achieve better performance in the future.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: TOP TEN AT DONINGTON MARKS RETURN TO FORM FOR WEST Kawasaki’s Anthony West stormed to his first top ten finish of the season in today’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park, after finally overcoming the traction problems that have plagued him since the beginning of the season. West, who qualified in seventh position on the grid in the wet yesterday, rode superbly aboard his Bridgestone-shod machine, lapping consistently throughout the 30-lap race around the 4.023km circuit. The Kawasaki pilot came under pressure late on in the race, but was able to up his pace sufficiently to retain tenth place at the chequered flag. West is now looking forward to Assen, one of his more favoured circuits, as upgrades to his race machine should further assist his quest to get a season that’s been hampered by problems well and truly back on track. John Hopkins was left frustrated today, as a technical issue with his Ninja ZX-RR forced him out of the race on lap seventeen, but it was an eventful race for the Kawasaki pilot even before this problem brought it to a premature end. After a good start from 11th place on the grid, the Anglo-American was baulked at turn one, Redgate Corner, when James Toseland highsided out of contention right in front of him and Hopkins had to take evasive action to avoid the Briton’s fallen machine. The gritty 25-year-old, who is still carrying a back injury sustained at Catalunya, fought his way up to tenth position, just ahead of his teammate, before being sidelined by an electrical fault on his Ninja ZX-RR. While Kawasaki’s engineers investigate the cause of the problem, Hopkins is looking to make amends in the Dutch TT at Assen, which takes place in just six days time. Anthony West #13 – 10th Position “This result shows exactly what we are capable of and I hope it will only get better from here. The bike finally feels rideable, and I was able to push right up until the end of the race, so I’m really pleased with a top ten finish. We’ve made a massive step forward and I feel so much more confident in the wet or dry than I have done previously. In the closing stages I came under quite a lot of pressure from Toni Elias and Randy de Puniet, but I was able to respond and maintain a good lap time throughout. The machine set-up felt good, as did the Bridgestone tyres, and although there are many more improvements to be made, I really believe we can work on these. The next round at Assen is one of my more favoured tracks so I’m really looking forward to racing there.” John Hopkins #21 – DNF “It’s difficult to express how frustrated I feel after today’s race. I got away from the start pretty well, but then Toseland highsided right in front of me exiting the first turn and, while he slid off the track, I had to brake almost to a standstill to avoid his bike. This left me dead last on the opening lap, but I got my head down and fought my way back through the field, eventually passing Anthony to take tenth position. I think it was possible to close the gap on the group ahead of me, but then the bike just stopped at the Old Hairpin. Obviously we need to figure out what caused the problem, but with the next race less than one week away I don’t want to dwell on what went wrong today but, rather, look forward to making amends next weekend in Assen.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “I am very happy for Anthony because he has ridden well in both the wet and dry conditions throughout the weekend. This proves that as a team we were right to stick by him. I have always believed we made a good choice in Anthony, and today he was able to ride a solid race to achieve our aim of a top ten finish. Today has been disappointing for John, as he has worked so hard whilst carrying a back injury. He fought to a good position before being ruled out of the race due to a technical issue. This problem is now under investigation and we will look to resolve it, wherever the trouble lies.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS WITH DONINGTON DOMINATION. DIFFICULT DAY FOR MELANDRI Casey Stoner took his second victory of the season and the 40th podium of his career today with a dominant display at Donington Park. As a result the reigning MotoGP World Champion moved up a place to third in the championship, closing the gap by five points to series leader Valentino Rossi and by nine to Dani Pedrosa, who finished in second and third place respectively. Yesterday’s rain gave way to high winds today but the dry conditions suited Stoner perfectly and the youngster produced a faultless display from the first lap. Things were much trickier for Melandri, who was unable to rediscover his positive feeling from the first day and ended up down in sixteenth place. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st “This has been a great weekend for us and it’s brilliant to know that we’re in a position to fight that little bit harder. The last three races have gone quite well for us in general but we’ve taken a big step forward with the new electronic system, which worked so well at the Catalunya test and then here. After a disappointing start to the season since the opening round at Qatar it’s nice to feel as though we’re back on track and this weekend went well from the start. We kicked off in free practice with some good lap times and it’s just got better and better since then, in wet and dry conditions. Today the bike was perfect, even at the end of the race we had really good traction and I want to thank all my team – Filippo, Vitto and all the people at Ducati – for the hard work they are doing. Now we just hope that this new electronic system will work as well at the rest of the tracks as it has done at Catalunya and Donington Park.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 16th “I am so, so disappointed with this and I’m sorry for the team. Probably the only thing we can do right now is put this Grand Prix behind us and try to think about the next race. In such a difficult situation as this, to not even have two consecutive days with the same weather conditions is a huge obstacle because we just haven’t got time to find the right way forward. Today I didn’t even get the feeling back that I had on Friday in the dry, which wasn’t amazing but definitely better than today. Now we have to reset and start again from zero on Thursday.” LIVIO SUPPO (Ducati MotoGP Project Director) “Casey has been extraordinary all weekend and he fully deserved to win. To watch him ride as he has done at Donington is fantastic. We have shown that we know how to stay strong, continue to work on our bike and this win is dedicated to everybody back at the factory who have never stopped working to put Casey in a position to win again. On the other side of the coin we’re really disappointed for Marco because it was another very tough race for him and he couldn’t even repeat his lap times from Friday. We realise this is a very difficult time for him. I think we have to stay close to him and try to help him in any way we can, so that he can find more faith in the package he has.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: STONER STROLLS TO WIN, ROSSI SECOND, DANI THIRD Aussie Ducati man Casey Stoner was unstoppable here at a windswept Donington Park winning easily from pole to haul himself back into the World Championship hunt. Series points leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was second and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) third with the consolation of setting the fastest race lap. No one had any answers to Stoner’s speed all weekend and his margin of victory, 5.8 seconds at the flag, was ample evidence of how he dominated proceedings. No matter what the conditions, rain, damp or gusting wind, he had the measure of this track to a far greater extent than any rival. He powered into the lead from pole into turn one and was never troubled for 30-laps of this 4.023km circuit. Rossi tucked in behind him for the first few laps but when Stoner found his race rhythm, no one could live with it. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) tried though, overtaking Rossi for second place on the first lap, but never making any impression on Stoner. The rookie rider Dovi was full of intent and only Pedrosa matched him for determination in the initial stages of the race, the Spanish ace flying up the order from ninth on the grid to fifth on that opening lap while Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) was circulating in fourth in his first race with the pneumatic-valve engine. Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) fell at the Melbourne Loop hairpin on lap two while domestic hope James Toseland (Yamaha) had already come to grief at turn one on the opening lap. De Angelis would remount to take 15th place, Toseland persevered for the scant reward of 17th. Stoner meanwhile was carving out early fastest laps and a 1m 29.405s time on lap three was evidence enough of his superiority. By lap four he had nearly a one second advantage over Rossi in second place with Dovi holding third from Pedrosa. Dani then showed what he could do in the chase by firing his RC212V to a fastest lap of 1m 28.823s as he worked on Dovi for third place. By lap eight he’d disposed of the increasingly rapid Italian and now had Rossi to deal with. Stoner was now ahead of the struggles behind by more than two seconds. The action was now the fight for second between Rossi and Dani. On lap 14 Dani made the first of a series of attempts to edge past Rossi. But try as he might, Dani couldn’t make any pass stick for more than half a lap. Four times in three laps they swapped places. Stoner was now three seconds ahead. Rossi and Pedrosa were now seven seconds ahead of Dovi in fourth who in turn was under increasing pressure from Colin Edwards (Yamaha) while Hayden was circulating in sixth place. Edwards was getting stronger as the race ran on and so was Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). The Spanish rider snatched sixth place from Nicky four laps from the end and as riders all the way down the field settled for what they’d got after 30 tough laps there were no more scraps for valuable points. And the overall points picture has now changed. Rossi still leads, but now with 162 points to Dani’s 151. Stoner has 117 and Lorenzo is still in the picture with 104. These four, but more likely the lead pair, will now dispute the next ten rounds of this World Championship. Third-placed Dani said: “This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time and only one day of dry practice. So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona I think that finishing on the podium is a good result for us. I pushed hard today and I really wanted to get second. Unfortunately, starting from the third row at a tight track with a short run to the first corner was never going to be easy. I got a good start, but I got a bit boxed in through the first corner and I lost some time while I was behind Dovizioso. Once I got up with Valentino we had a good battle, made a few passes but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second.” Dovi was fifth and said: “This fifth position is an important result for us and I’m happy about it. I made a good start, which allowed me to do a lot of overtaking and for a few laps I was there with Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. In the first part of the race I’m generally faster than other riders and this allows me to gain some positions straight after the start. I was able to maintain a good pace around 1m 29s but the bike showed the same little balance problem we had on Friday. In Assen at the next race it will be crucial to produce another good result like this one.” Nicky, in seventh, said: “We learned a lot this weekend. We could’ve done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I’m actually pretty positive. We’ll try to put everything we’ve learned to good use at Assen. The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The bike was pretty consistent at the end and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot about fuel, tyre life and so on, we got a lot of information. We knew the first race might not be easy, so I hope we can build from here. Thanks to the team and to HRC for all their hard work.” Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) finished ninth. He said: “I’m happy with the race because I actually enjoyed myself on the bike and managed to set some lap times that were faster than we expected, but unfortunately from the 20th lap to the end of the race we started to suffer from chatter on the front-end and I could no longer push as hard. Anyway, I’m satisfied with the feeling we found with the bike the engine and the brakes worked really well and that’s something good to take to the next race.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) managed 12th and said: “When Toseland crashed I was behind him and went wide. After that I lost some confidence and it wan’t easy passing other riders especially in the braking points. On lap seven I was behind Hopkins and West but couldn’t pass them because the bike was too heavy and couldn’t change direction easily. I struggled for the rest of the race trying to set good lap times without making any mistakes. This is not a brilliant performance, but after the crashes we had in recent races, we’re trying to set the bike up in the right way. We’ll work it out at Assen.” A gritty ride from De Angelis eventually yielded a point for 15th place. He said: “That was a really unlucky race for me because we’ve been fast all weekend in the dry here. I made a good start and quickly got up to speed but I started to notice a chatter problem from the end of the first lap and it was intensifying with every corner. At the end of the second lap I crashed but decided to get back on and try to finish what was always going to be a tough race for me. Despite the result I’m consoled by the fact it was just a tyre defect that slowed us today. It was the same kind of tyre I used on Friday, when I was really fast in free practice, and in the warm-up this morning so I guess it’s just one of those things.” 250cc Grand Prix Mika Kallio (KTM) won his fifth 250 race and his 12th Grand Prix from 14th on the grid when he benefited from a spirited tussle between Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) and Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) who would finish second and third. Kallio was running in third place when, with two laps to go, the lead pair ran wide and let the Finn through to take the flag. Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) battled with Simoncelli into turn one from the lights and hopes were high that the determined Japanese rider could be the man to beat here, but he couldn’t maintain his early pace and slid down the field to finish 9th at the flag. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG RS250RW) was 16th. Takahashi said: “Today I was ready to make a good race because during practice we’d set up the bike very well. When we got onto the grid for the race I could feel the rear wheel sliding, so we replaced the rear tyre. I made a good start and I felt I could be fast as I was just behind the leader Simoncelli. He was fast too, and tried to pull away. I decided not to attack him immediately, but to follow to try to leave the following group behind. Unfortunately, after a few laps the performance of the bike dropped off a little, but not through any mechanical problem.” Wilairot said: “My start wasn’t good but I had a good rhythm. I was recovering positions and got up to 13th place. Unfortunately the rear tyre was defective and this made me cautious, I couldn’t accelerate hard out of right hand corners for more than half the race. If I had opened the throttle as I wanted to I would have crashed. I feel very bad because we could have achieved a better result today.” The World Championship points table shows Kallio now on 131, Simoncelli with 123 and Alex Debon (Aprilia), who finished seventh today on 108 with ten rounds of the series to go. 125cc Grand Prix British rider Scott Redding (Aprilia) won his home Grand Prix in fine style from Mike Di Meglio (Derbi) in second and Marc Marquez (KTM) third. He becomes the youngest ever Grand Prix winner and the first British rider to win his home race since 1986. It was Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) who made the early running until under pressure from the flying Redding, he fell at the notorious Craner Curves with six laps to go handing 15-year-old Redding the win in only his eighth ever Grand Prix. Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) finished 23rd and World Championship points leader Di Meglio increased his series lead over second place Simone Corsi, who finished fifth today. Stefan Bradl (Aprilia), who failed to finish today, lies third with 77 points. Rossi said: “The strong wind made this race extremely difficult. I made a good start and in the first laps I was with a pack of six riders all fighting each other. We stuck together, not conceding anything, and I was able to keep up with the German Lasser and the Spaniard Tutusaus. I am both satisfied and disappointed. Satisfied, because I finished ahead of riders who all normally finish ahead of me. Disappointed because I would have liked to keep up with more of the other riders.” Honda rider quotes. GP GB race. June 22, 2008. MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3d. “This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time and only one day of dry practice. So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona I think that finishing on the podium is a good result for us. I pushed hard today and I really wanted to get second. Unfortunately, starting from the third row at a tight track with a short run to the first corner was never going to be easy. I got a good start, but I got a bit boxed in through the first corner and I lost some time while I was behind Dovizioso. Once I got up with Valentino we had a good battle, made a few passes but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second. My Michelin tyres worked well today but I struggled a bit through the direction changes. Anyway, we got some good points for the championship and we can look forward to getting a better result at Assen next weekend.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 5th. “This fifth position is an important result for us and I’m happy about it. I made a good start, which allowed me to make a lot of overtaking and for some laps I was there with Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. In the first part of the race I’m generally faster than other riders and this allows me to gain some positions straight after the start. Then Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards came back at me quite quickly. I was behind Nicky for a few laps but when I saw Colin arriving I decided to overtake him and improve my rhythm. It went well with Nicky as I passed him, but not so well with Colin who beat me to the chequered flag. I was able to maintain a good pace around 1m 29s but the bike showed the same little problem of balance that we had on Friday. In Assen at the next race it will be crucial and important to produce another good result like this one.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 7th. “We learned a lot this weekend. We could’ve done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I’m actually pretty positive, we’ll try to put everything we’ve learned to good use at Assen. We didn’t really know what to expect here, everything went smooth until this morning when we had to switch bikes. The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I didn’t know what it was for, but if a sensor goes bad you realise just how much you use traction control, engine braking control and things like that. It was nothing serious but I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The guys are looking into it now. It would’ve been nice to finish higher up, because I’ve got a lot of English guys in the box. The bike was pretty consistent at the end and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot about fuel, tyre life and so on, we got a lot of information. We knew the first race might not be easy, so I hope we can build from here. Thanks to the team and to HRC for all their hard work.” Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 9th. “I’m happy with the race because even though I could only make ninth place I managed to get a good start and was able to run with the group immediately ahead of me for most of the race. I actually enjoyed myself on the bike and managed to set some lap times that were faster than we expected, but unfortunately from the 20th lap to the end of the race we started to suffer from chattering on the front end and I could no longer push as hard. Anyway, I’m satisfied with the feeling we found with the bike the engine and the brakes worked really well and that’s something good to take to the next race.” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 12th. “It was a difficult race for me. After the start, when Toseland crashed I was behind him and went wide loosing some positions. After that I lost some confidence and was not easy passing the other riders especially in the braking points. On lap 7 I was behind Hopkins and West but could not pass them because the bike was to heavy and could not change directions easily and could not brake as late as I wanted. I struggled for the rest of the race trying to set good lap times without making any mistake. On the last lap some people started to run close to the race track and I lost the concentration for a while so Elias passed me on the straight. This is not a brilliant performance but after the crashes we had in the recent races we are trying to set up the bike in the right way but we still miss something. We will work it out in Assen in the next days”. Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 15th. “That was a really unlucky race for me because we’ve been fast all weekend in the dry here. I made a good start and quickly got up to speed but I started to notice a chattering problem from the end of the first lap and it was intensifying with every corner. At the end of the second lap it caused me to crash but I decided to get back on and try to finish what was always going to be a tough race for me. Despite the result I’m consoled by the fact it was just a tyre defect that slowed us today. It was the same kind of tyre I used on Friday, when I was really fast in free practice, and in the warm-up this morning so I guess it’s just one of those things.” 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 9th. “Today I was ready to make a good race because during practice we had set-up the bike very well. When we got onto the grid for the race I could feel the rear wheel sliding, so we replaced the rear tyre. I made a good start and I felt I could be fast as I was just behind the leader Simoncelli. He was fast too, and tried to pull away. I decided not to attack him immediately, but to follow to try to leave the following group behind. Unfortunately, after a few laps the performance of the bike dropped off a little, but not through any mechanical problem. During the race the tyres and suspension worked well and I regret not having been able to fight for the podium that we all wanted to achieve.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 16th. “My start was not good but I had a good rhythm and was recovering positions and I got up to 13th place. Unfortunately the rear tyre was defective an d this caused me to be cautious, I could not accelerate out of right hand corners for over half the race. If I had opened the throttle as I wanted to I would have crashed. I feel very bad because we could have achieved a better result today.” 125cc: Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 23rd. “The strong wind made this race extremely difficult. I made a good start but the first laps were heated with a pack of six riders all fighting each other. We stuck together not conceding anything, and I was able to keep up with the German Lasser and the Spaniard Tutusaus. I am both satisfied and disappointed. Satisfied, because I finished ahead of Muresan, Van den Berg and Lacalendola, who all normally finish ahead of me. Disappointed because I would have liked to have kept up with the other riders. I know I am not using enough of an angle with my Honda, which requires me to keep my knee even more in.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Vermeulen eighth as Spies scores first GP points at a windy Donington Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen battled to eighth place at today’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park, with replacement rider Ben Spies finishing in 14th to score his first-ever MotoGP points. Vermeulen was looking comfortable in sixth place, but as grip reduced he was unable to fight off the attacks from riders around him, and even though he fought right to the chequered flag he just couldn’t find that extra bit he needed to hold on to a higher position. Spies acquitted himself very well at his first-ever MotoGP event. The 23-year-old American continued with his steep learning curve to bring his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home safely in 14th. He had a tough start to the race, but settled into a smooth rhythm by half distance and then produced his fastest time on the 21st lap of the race. Today’s race was held in dry, but very windy, conditions which kept temperatures down. Over 88,000 fans at trackside saw reigning World Champion Casey Stoner lead the race from start to finish, taking the win from current championship leader Valentino Rossi in second. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now makes the short trip across the North Sea to The Netherlands for the Dutch TT next Saturday, where it looks ever increasingly likely that Loris Capirossi will make a return to track action following his crash at Catalunya earlier this month which sidelined him for today’s race with a broken hand. Chris Vermeulen: “It was a difficult race today as we hadn’t had a lot of track time in the dry to prepare for it. For me though we have taken a big step with the bike compared to here last year in the dry – that had a lot to do with the Barcelona test and what we learnt there. I’ve got to say a big thanks to my team because they worked so hard this weekend and gave me a bike that worked really well considering the little amount of set-up time we had. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace of the front guys, and although I rode as hard as I could for the whole race it just didn’t quite happen. Towards the end we didn’t have much grip left in the rear tyre, which was unfortunate because I felt like I had the pace to fight with other riders around me. Let’s now move on to Assen next week and see how things go there.” Ben Spies: “It was a tough race as I was still trying to learn the tyres, the bike and the track in the first few laps. The first half of the race felt like garbage to me, but the second half was really good! I was running times towards the end that would have put us in the top-10 so I’m quite pleased with that. I was catching the guys in front and reeling them in lap-by-lap, but I just didn’t have enough laps to get up and past them. I was definitely getting more comfortable on the bike and even though the result wasn’t what I wanted the times at the end were really fast and I’m happy with that!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Unfortunately we weren’t able to turn the front row start into the result we were looking for today – it certainly wasn’t through lack of effort on Chris’s part. He got a good start and looked like he could get up there with the front guys, but he just didn’t have that bit of extra pace that was needed to make a challenge. Chris is very motivated and if points were rewarded for hard work, he and his crew would be at the top of the board! “Ben did a good job here this weekend and he looked comfortable and quick on the bike towards the end of the race. He turned in lap times that were good enough for the top-10 – and that is a credit to him. He hasn’t made a mistake all weekend and has improved consistently no matter what has been thrown at him. He has done very well indeed. It’s not yet clear whether Ben will race at Assen to continue his learning curve, but he will be there ready to step in if Loris is not able to ride.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner takes first Bridgestone ‘dry’ win at Donington Park Round 8: Great Britain Race Donington Park – Sunday 22 June 2008 Casey Stoner took a dominant victory aboard his Bridgestone-shod Ducati in this afternoon’s British Grand Prix, leading home Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi by almost six seconds to secure the second Bridgestone 1-2 of the season. It is the fifth Bridgestone-shod victory in eight races after Stoner’s season-opening win in Qatar and Rossi’s trio of wins in Shanghai, Le Mans and Mugello. Stoner has been in scintillating form around Donington Park all weekend, whether in the dry or wet conditions, and followed up his second pole position of the season with his second victory of the year to jump to third place in the championship. Stoner’s win is his second consecutive Donington win, but marks the first time that a Bridgestone-shod rider has ever taken victory in the dry at the British track, after 2007’s success in wet conditions. Rossi’s second place extends his championship lead over Dani Pedrosa to eleven points, as the Spaniard completed this afternoon’s podium in third position. Three additional Bridgestone riders took top ten finishes today with Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen in eighth, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Shinya Nakano in ninth and Kawasaki’s Anthony West scoring his best result of the season in tenth place. After a rain-hit qualifying session, in which Stoner, Rossi and Vermeulen took an all-Bridgestone front row, race day remained dry, but windy, and enabled Bridgestone to introduce a new rear tyre compound to combat the demands of the Donington track. Britain has traditionally been a difficult circuit for Bridgestone. The previous best result in dry conditions was eighth place in 2004 and 2006, set on both occasions by John Hopkins on a Suzuki. The championship moves to Assen for the Dutch TT next week, another circuit where Bridgestone has yet to taste victory. Hiroshi Yasukawa Director of Bridgestone Motorsport “That was a highly enjoyable race and congratulations must go first and foremost to Casey and the Ducati Corse team for their second win of the season. This victory was certainly very well deserved after a competitive showing all weekend and it is great to see them back to winning ways. Valentino and Fiat Yamaha also had a strong race and second place today helps enhance their championship lead. It is always a pleasure to see 1-2 results on our tyres, but this result is particularly special considering the difficulties we have faced here in the past in the dry conditions. Finally, I’d like to express my thanks to all our teams for their continued efforts and support.” Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “I am extremely pleased with this afternoon’s result. Donington in the dry has always been a tough challenge for us, so the tyre performance and consistency in today’s long 30-lap race was very satisfying. Casey has been exceptional this weekend and thoroughly deserves his second win of the season. It is great to see him and Ducati back on top form. Valentino also rode a good race and set some consistent times on his way to second position. We introduced a new rear compound this weekend, designed specifically to combat the demands of this type of track, and most riders opted to run this compound in the race. The results of Casey and Valentino show that our development is heading in a good direction.” Casey Stoner Ducati Corse Race Winner “This weekend, we have been fast right from the first practice session, and we have been competitive in both dry and wet conditions. It is a great feeling to be back on the top step of the podium. I have to thank the mechanics because they have been working hard to solve the problems we have been having, and I hope this is something that will be equally beneficial for the future races. Thanks also to Bridgestone, we were able to set fast and consistent lap times all weekend, and also be very strong with the wet tyres.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Race Results and Tyre Choices Pos. Rider Team Race Time Gap Front Tyre (all 16.5”) Rear Tyre (all 16.5”) P1 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 44m44.982s Winner Slick-Soft Slick-Medium P2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 44m50.771s +5.789s Slick-Soft Slick-Medium P8 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 45m06.648s +21.666s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P9 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 45m14.336s +29.354s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P10 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 45m26.012s +41.030s Slick-Soft Slick-Medium P11 Toni Elias Alice Team 45m29.408s +44.426s Slick-Soft Slick-Soft P13 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 45m33.713s +48.731s Slick-Soft Slick-Medium P14 Ben Spies Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 45m34.573s +49.591s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P15 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 46m07.168s +1m22.186s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P16 Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 46m15.003s +1m30.021s Slick-Soft Slick-Medium DNF John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 24m18.021s +14 laps Slick-Soft Slick-Medium Weather: Dry Air 20°C, Track 26°C More, from a press release issued by Michelin: FIVE MICHELIN MEN IN TOP SEVEN AT DONINGTON Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) was Michelin’s top performer at Donington Park today, the Spaniard charging through the pack superbly to finish third after starting from ninth place on the grid. The Spaniard enjoyed a thrilling contest for the runner-up spot with Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1) and set the second fastest lap of the race, just five hundredths of a second off the best lap of the day. Today’s winner was Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici). The next four men home after Pedrosa were all Michelin runners and their battles provided the best entertainment during a race watched by a record British GP crowd of 88,000. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) came out best of the group, finishing fourth after a determined ride from seventh on the first lap. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V-Michelin) started brilliantly, even passing Rossi on the first lap, the Italian rookie eventually coming home fifth, two seconds behind Edwards and less than a second ahead of the amazing Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin). Lorenzo, who missed the last GP through injury, had only qualified 17th but came alive in the race, fighting through from tenth on lap one. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) raced Honda’s pneumatic-valve engine for the first time and came home in seventh. Randy de Puniet (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin) was 12th and local hero James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) 17th. Toseland fell at the very first corner, bravely remounting to finish the 30-lap race. “It wasn’t a bad race for us, we had a good group of Michelin riders riding a good rhythm,” said Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “We weren’t with Casey and Valentino but several of our riders had entertaining battles for strong results. Dani, Colin, Andrea and Lorenzo all rode good races. Of course we were hoping Dani could get second but he rode a great race from the third row and he got some good points. His tires looked pretty nice after the race. Most of our guys chose the same tires ? Dani, Nicky, Jorge, Colin and James used exactly the same rear. We only had one day of dry practice here, so I think they made the best possible tire choice.” Pedrosa, still hurting from a fall on Friday and an earlier tumble during the post-Catalan GP tests, was happy enough with third. “This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time,” he said. “So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona I think that finishing on the podium is a good result. I pushed hard today and I really wanted to get second. Once I got up with Valentino we had a good battle, made a few passes but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second. My Michelin tires worked well today but I struggled a bit through the direction changes.” Edwards got into a superb rhythm as the race went on. “Michelin came up with some really good stuff here,” he said. “What I had in the race I was really excited about, it just took me a while to readapt to pushing hard in the dry after yesterday’s rain.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Rossi extends championship lead with second place in 200th Grand Prix Valentino Rossi finished a worthy runner-up at Donington Park today, unable to catch Casey Stoner on this occasion but surviving a mid-race battle with Dani Pedrosa to extend his lead at the top of the championship. Today was Rossi’s 200th Grand Prix and this his 142nd podium since he opened his account with a third place at the 1996 Austrian GP in the 125cc class. It was also a good day for Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who put his recent injuries and yesterday’s poor qualifying behind him to come through from 17th on the grid to take sixth. Rossi’s recent work in testing on improving his starts paid off today and the Italian held onto his second place at the off. He tried to stay with Stoner but the Australian was too quick in some parts of the track today and Rossi knew that second was going to be as good as it got. Midway through the 30-lap race Pedrosa loomed and twice passed Rossi into turn one, but both times the multiple-champion took him back and over the final stages he was able to create a safe cushion from the Spaniard, crossing the line just under six seconds behind Stoner and 2.558 ahead of Pedrosa, who is his closest championship rival. Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: +5.789 “I am quite happy about this result, although of course I would have preferred to have been fighting with Stoner for the win! I got a good start today and I tried to stay with Casey, but in some corners he was faster than me and it was impossible to keep up with his pace as the race went on. I knew that second place was important because of the points so I had to win my fight with Pedrosa in the middle of the race! Luckily we took second and now I have extended my lead by four points, which is very important for our championship. Unfortunately this weekend we made some mistakes when it was dry on Friday, and then because of the wet yesterday we weren’t able to work on them until today, when it was too late to make things perfect. Anyway we did the best we could so thanks to all my guys. We are leading the championship but Stoner showed his potential today so I think that this hard battle between us all is going to continue race by race. I am glad we only have a few days to Assen and I am looking forward to doing better there.” Davide Brivio – Team Manager “Today it was difficult to do better than this but if you think about the championship it has been a very important result and we have increased our lead on Pedrosa by four points. We’re not quite at the half-way point of the championship yet – one more week – but we’re pretty happy with our season so far and the important thing is that we’re leading the championship. We have no time to rest before Assen but we will be going there with the aim of getting back to the top step of the podium.” Lorenzo storms to sixth with superbDonington ride Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo wrote another impressive chapter in his rollercoaster rookie story today with an outstanding ride to sixth from 17th on the grid in the British Grand Prix. After suffering a string of crashes and injuries over the last seven weeks and missing the last round in Catalunya, his aim today was simply to come home in one piece but the determined 21-year-old did considerably better, passing a host of riders to make up 11 places from his grid position. In dry but windy conditions, Lorenzo lived up to his nickname ‘Por Fuera’ at turn one by overtaking around the outside of several riders and coming out of the first corner melee in 13th position. He continued with more of the same throughout the lap and crossed the line for the first time in tenth. As his confidence grew he found the rhythm he had been lacking during the rest of the weekend and passed Anthony West to take ninth on lap 13. A consistent pace throughout the middle part of the race, matching that of the leading riders, brought him to Shinya Nakano on lap 20 and, once past him he succeeded in closing a three second gap to Chris Vermeulen and Nicky Hayden in just four laps. He dispensed with these two in turn and then set off after Andrea Dovozioso, however with only five laps remaining time ran out for the Mallorcan and he crossed the line just under a second adrift of the Italian, despite setting a personal best time on the final lap of the race. Lorenzo now sits 13 points adrift of Stoner in fourth place, whilst Rossi extends his lead over Dani Pedrosa to 11 points as they approach the half way point in the championship, which comes at Assen in just six days time. Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 6th Time: +15.690 “I’m very happy with this result, because this was a very hard weekend for me and for my crew. I don’t want to think about the past, or think about what might have been if I’d started in the front rows, I only want to think about the present and my ride today. The number one aim was to finish the race without crashing or hurting myself, because at the end of the day your health is the most important thing! After the start however I started to feel more and more confident and found I was able to ride better and better, then I realised that I actually had the chance to do a very good race. I had fast pace throughout and my bike and my Michelin tyres worked very well, so thank you to all my team. Sometimes lately it has been hard to stay optimistic, motivated and happy, even though I have always tried to go out smiling and with a good attitude, but this race today was great and I am very happy tonight.” Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager “We have achieved the goal for this race; it was very important that Jorge found a good feeling with the bike and started to enjoy riding his M1 again and today this happened. He was able to ride a beautiful race and come back from a difficult grid position to take a brilliant sixth. Today he impressed us once again and it was also a great feeling for everyone to see him making eleven overtakes! The team did a fantastic job because they were able to put him in a position to be this fast. We are very confident now that in Assen Jorge will be back to his best.” Masahiko Nakajima – Team Director “We were struggling all weekend in order to try to find the right set-up to fit these tricky conditions. At the end we found a good setting, which enabled Valentino to be fast, but unfortunately one of our rivals was still faster than us today! Anyway we were able to secure important championship points and we are satisfied about this. Now our aim is to get back to the top of the podium next week. We are all very happy with Jorge’s race today because he came through to a good finishing position from the back of the grid. Unfortunately starting from 17th meant it was very difficult to come all the way to the front but he did a fantastic job in the circumstances. We’re pleased because we have seen once again the impressive riding that he showed us before his accident. Now we will continue to try to improve his bike set-up even more, with the aim of seeing him back on the podium as soon as possible.” Edwards fourth for Tech 3 Yamaha, Toseland frustrated The Tech 3 Yamaha team had another day of contrasting fortunes at a blustery Donington Park today, with Colin Edwards claiming a hard fought fourth place in the British GP. But there was bitter disappointment for James Toseland and a record British GP crowd of nearly 90,000 fans as the 27-year-old finished 17th following a crash at the first corner. Seventh at the end of the first lap, Edwards started to make his charge through the field on lap 14 when he passed Chris Vermeulen at Coppice. Just three laps later he claimed fifth with an overtake on compatriot Nicky Hayden before he took fourth place from Andrea Dovizioso on lap 18. For most of the second half of the race, Edwards was able to run the pace of podium finishers Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, but despite some aggressive riding he was unable to fight his way back into contention for a second successive podium. It was a day of frustration for Toseland, who determined to make a strong start from 16th on the grid, crashed at the first turn having gained several places. Despite a nasty bang to his right hand and the loss of his right footpeg, Toseland rallied himself to complete 30 tough laps at a fast pace. Despite his disappointing result, Toseland still got a rousing reception from British fans appreciative of his efforts. Colin Edwards – Position: 4th Time: + 12.678 “I’m a bit cross even though fourth is still a good result. In the dry on Friday it was so good and I was really happy with everything. But with the rain yesterday I got thrown a bit. The geometry of the bike is quite a bit different and the weight bias quite a bit different compared to last year. So riding in the rain threw me a bit today when it was dry. Even this morning I went out and I came in and I started complaining about all these problems with the front end, yet it was exactly the same bike that I had on Friday. I got out in the race and in the first few laps I was struggling. I was riding hard but I couldn’t get into the low 29s like I was doing on a tyre that had done 24 laps on Friday. And then it kind of clicked what I needed to do but it took too long to adjust. I kept letting the front pop up and kept running wide and running wide and then I figured it out. Now you have to brake a lot deeper, harder and longer on this year’s bike with the geometry and I just got my head around it too late. Once I did that I got into the low 29s and started moving through the field. As far as lap times there was not much between me, Valentino, Dani and Casey. I kept seeing them at the same spot on the track and they weren’t pulling away. If anything I was gaining a little bit on them. I might have fought with them had I come through a bit quicker but we still did a fantastic job this weekend. The team and Michelin did a great job and I just wish I could run the race again.” James Toseland – Position: 17th Time: +1 lap “It is hard to explain just how disappointed how I am. I really wanted to get a good result for my home crowd but it was always going to be difficult after the problems of yesterday. Starting from 16th was always going to be tough but I decided to attack from the start. I made a good start and passed a few people and didn’t think I was too fast into the first corner but the rear end came round and I was down. I could have just cruised back to the pits but a lot of people had come to see me ride. I was hurting because I hit my head pretty hard and I smacked my right hand down on the tarmac. And the right footpeg had snapped off, but I soldiered on because I wanted to get to that chequered flag more than anything. I was going to finish for all those fans, who have been unbelievable supporting me since I arrived here. I will bounce back from this but it has got to be one of the biggest disappointments of my career. It is not in my nature to give up and I didn’t today, and I know my turn will come. I am obviously disappointed, but I have to congratulate Scott Redding. He did an amazing job and it was great for the British fans to see him do that. Herve Poncharal – Team Manager “Firstly I really want to thank Colin because again he did another great race. He qualified on the second row in the rain and although he lose some time in the early part of the race he was running the same times as Valentino and Dani and he was catching them later on. Seeing Colin do that today proves what a competitive package we have got. Of course I am very sorry and disappointed for James. I think he really wanted to do well but the rain on Saturday meant he was always racing against the clock to improve. From then he was always trying to recover. He made a mistake but I have nothing but huge admiration for what he did afterwards. It took a lot of courage for him to carry in the circumstances and it showed that he really wanted to repay the British fans for their support. He wanted to do well for them and I don’t think they can be disappointed with his effort. The good news is we have a race next week and he can show what a strong character he is by bouncing back.” More, from a press release issued by Ben Spies’ publicist: SPIES 14TH IN MOTOGP DEBUT AMA Superbike Champ Scores World Championship Points CASTLE DONINGTON, England (June 22, 2008) Ben Spies finished 14th at the British Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday at the Donington Park circuit riding the factory Rizla Suzuki. It was the MotoGP debut for Spies, the 23-year old two-time AMA Superbike Champion from Longview, Texas. Spies turned a lot of heads by qualifying eighth in the rain on Saturday, but on a dry track Sunday his lack of experience on the motorcycle and the Donington Park circuit kept him from running as high in the order as he would have liked. “Overall I’m happy with the weekend,” Spies said of his debut. “The final result isn’t what I wanted, but with so little track time and seat time on the bike I just couldn’t find my rhythm early in the race.” “I started conservatively because the last thing I wanted to do was to go in and get tangled up with somebody in the first turn. I just wanted to get away clean, but I only went maybe 70 percent the first couple of laps. Once the race settled out I got a lot more comfortable and started to lower my lap times. The last 15 laps I felt like I was starting to get the feel for sliding the bike and I almost caught (Sylvain) Guintoli at the end.” During the weekend Spies proved that he has the talent to race on the world championship level. He said he was appreciative of the way he was received by the fans and fellow MotoGP riders. “After qualifying so many people came over and shook my hand or just came by to tell me how they were glad to see me do well,” Spies said. “It’s nice to have that kind of support.” AMA Superbike races are televised in England, so British fans were eager to finally get to see the American champion in person. During the Riders For Health charity event, the Day of Champions, leading up to the Grand Prix, Spies donated his racing helmet and it raised nearly $6000 US in auction. Spies scored two world championship points in the British GP and is ranked 19th in the standings. Spies said his next opportunity to ride the Suzuki MotoGP bike will be during tire test sessions to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s new MotoGP circuit on July 1-2. He’s next slated to race the world championship in his wildcard appearance in the 2008 Red Bull US Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 18-20. More, from a press release issued by JiR Team Scot Honda: Andrea Dovizioso takes a fighting fifth position at Donington Park After a weekend of very differing weather conditions at the eighth round of the MotoGP World Championship, today Donington Park was finally kissed by sunshine. Thankfully, stable weather conditions blessed the MotoGP race, which saw Andrea Dovizioso on his Honda RC212V finish in fifth position for JiR Team Scot after a very strong race. Starting from the second row of the grid in sixth position, Andrea was able to stay with the three leaders with Casey Stoner out front, who was pushing hard to make a gap on the following riders. For the whole race Andrea was able to be involved in some exciting battles with the likes of Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards. The final position of fifth is a result, which is very important for the World Championship in which the Italian rider maintains sixth place overall. Gianluca Montiron Team Director, JiR Team Scot “The small amount of time at our disposal during practice to set up the bike in dry weather affected our overall result. Fifth position is representative of this. Andrea made a very good start and in the early laps he was able to maintain a very good rhythm. After this the middle part of the race saw other riders trying hard to reach the leaders and overall I want to say what Andrea achieved was very positive. We do not gain any positions in the World Championship classification, but the points achieved today were fundamental for the season ahead. We must continue like this and take each and every opportunity for points in the forthcoming rounds. Only working like this we can get the final result which we deserve.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA RC212V 5th 3rd best lap: 1′ 29.053″ “This fifth position is an important result for us and I’m happy about it. I made a good start, which allowed me to make a lot of overtaking and for some laps I was there with Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. In the first part of the race I’m generally faster than other riders and this allows me to gain some positions straight after the start. Then Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards came back at me quite quickly. I was behind Nicky for a few laps but when I saw Colin arriving I decided to overtake him and improve my rhythm. It went well with Nicky as I passed him, but not so well with Colin who beat me to the chequered flag. I was able to maintain a good pace around 1m 29s but the bike showed the same little problem of balance that we had on Friday. In Assen at the next race it will be crucial and important to produce another good result like this one.” Gianni Berti Technical Co-ordinator, JiR Team Scot MotoGP “The team did a good job today, as we did not have enough time to set up the bike for the dry conditions. In the wet we were ready, but Andrea was only in 13th position on Friday in the dry conditions, so this morning in the warm-up we tried to find the best settings possible and this translated to a fifth place in the race: in fact the warm-up represented for us our dry practice session. Andrea was able to interpret the race well, and he achieved this result by making a very good start as soon as the lights went out.”